Alcohol Consumption, Left Atrial Diameter, and Atrial Fibrillation

Background Alcohol consumption has been associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) in several epidemiologic studies, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. We sought to test the hypothesis that an atrial myopathy, manifested by echocardiographic left atrial enlargement, explains the association between chronic alcohol use and AF. …

Conclusions Our study of a large, community-based sample identified alcohol consumption as a predictor of left atrial enlargement and subsequent incident AF. Left atrial enlargement may be an intermediate phenotype along the causal pathway linking long‐term alcohol consumption to AF. Read more.